How to say "I love children" without being missunderstoodmisunderstood

How to say "I love children" without being missunderstood

In my native Spanish, an expression like "me encantan los niños", meaning that I quite enjoy the company of children, play with them, etc, can hardly be misunderstood as suggestion of pedophilia or related sicknesses, even by strangers.

In English however, I have been told that the expression "I love children" can be easily misunderstood, specially by strangers.

If this is the case, how can I express the same feeling that in my native Spanish in a safe manner?